Both of Us
by rough-water
Summary: "She thought the move would be easier for everyone, but so far that had proven to be wrong. So far she had no job, her son was labeled as a troublemaker, and she'd already made an enemy and a half." Four part story as a Secret Santa gift for Dancing Through Daisies! Peddie. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Both of Us:**

* * *

_September_

* * *

Patricia Williamson pressed her hand firmly in the middle of her car's steering wheel, allowing the blaring horn to be heard as she struggled to drive through this "dumb American town" she moved to only 3 days ago. When she received a call from the principal of her son's new school informing her of his misbehavior, she had to get there as fast as she could. It was his first day at school for heaven's sake, he couldn't have stayed out of trouble for at least the first week? Who knew 8 years olds were so mischievous ...

Patricia quickly parked her car into the first parking spot she found and let her heels take her to the front of the school, before she realized she had no idea where the principal's office was. She had only ducked in a side door to drop Nick off earlier that morning, not the front door. She entered to see a banner that said something about the 'Mountain Springs Mice', but nothing about how to gauet to the principals office, and for an elementary school, Mountain Springs was pretty big.

Patricia was considering calling the principal's number back for directions on how to get around this labyrinth of a school, although it would be extremely embarrassing, but when she turned down the hall she hoped it was located on, she ran directly into a tall, brunette man with a clipboard that happened to smack her coffee cup, spilling a few drops onto her clothes.

"Watch where you're going would you?" She spat, before sliding past him as the man held his hands up in surrender. All she wanted was to get her son and get out.

* * *

Eddie Miller sat in the office of Principal Hollifield, a tall, blonde woman who he'd heard does a great job of running the elementary school. She had called him here during his own planning period because apparently, his son Zack had been misbehaving in class today, which Eddie did not believe at all. Zack was not the type to act out like Eddie had as a child. He was a shy third grader who just enjoyed Legos and Power Rangers, not tormenting his teachers and peers.

But somehow still, Eddie was stuck waiting in the office for some parent whose kid must have _made_ Zack get in trouble, it was the only explanation.

"Sorry I'm late," Eddie heard a British accent say from outside. "There was um... lots of traffic." The door then opened and Principal Hollifield walked over to her desk, and a British woman, whom he had actually just ran into in the hall 15 minutes ago, followed behind. He thought he saw a quick scowl from her, but he wasn't quite sure.

"Ms. Williamson, this is Mr. Miller, and Mr. Miller, this is Mrs. Williamson," the principal, stated, introducing the two. "I've called you in here because both Zachary Miller and Nicholas Williamson exhibited inappropriate behavior that will not be tolerated at this school."

"May I ask what exactly they did?" Eddie questioned, still bewildered that Zack would do something of this sort.

"Well, Mr. Miller, they had what Nicholas called a 'pee fight' while on a restroom break, and I'm sure you can figure out what that is," Principal Hollifield stated, and Eddie nodded.

"I am very sorry for my son's behavior Mrs. Hollifield, and I can assure you this won't happen again," Ms. Williamson stated. Her tone seemed sincere, but Eddie could sense that it was fake. Surely whomever her son was got into trouble a lot, making her all to familiar with situations like this. It almost made Eddie _angry_ that Zack had gotten mixed up in this.

After a few other words were exchanged between the three adults, they were told to go get their kids and take them home for the day. Eddie exited the office to see a sad looking Zack on the bench, along with another child, who he assumed was Nicholas.

"I'm sorry..." was the first thing a guilty-looking Zack muttered when he slumped off the bench.

"I know you are, but you're gonna have to sit in my classroom for the rest of the day until you change clothes, ok?" Zack nodded.

On the way out of the school though, he practically ran into Nick and his mother again. "And we meet again..." Eddie muttered under his breath as his angry power walk to the car came to a stop.

"Unfortunately," the woman who's first name he did not know mumbled with a roll of her eyes before quickly walking away, her son following behind.

Eddie scoffed, it was his only self defense mechanism at this point, and beside him, Zack did so to, not even knowing the slightest bit what was going on.

Well, what _was_ going on? Eddie had quite literally walked into what he figured would be his biggest problem. The parents here were overprotective and almost a tad bit crazy, per usual, but Nick's mom... she was ten times _worse._

He couldn't decide if it was the accent, or the way she walked around like she owned the place, but regardless of what it was, Eddie decided that they definitely weren't friends, but _enemies_.

* * *

"A pee fight? Really Nick?"

Nick sighed, "I'm sorry, ok?"

"Not good enough," Patricia huffed. "You couldn't have gone more than the first day without getting in trouble, how do you expect to make friends huh? I know you didn't want to move here but that doesn't mean it's okay for you to misbehave!"

"I know mom, and I _did_ make a friend. Zack is my friend." He mumbled, staring out the window as the houses passed.

"Try to pick friends that you don't get into trouble with."

"I wouldn't have to make friends if you didn't make me leave Liverpool!" He shouted, finally finding his voice. "I want to go back!"

"Well we're not," Patricia stated, and left it at that for the rest of the car ride.

* * *

Patricia huffed as she opened and then closed the refrigerator door for what seemed like the fiftieth time. She didn't know why she just _expected_ food to be in there, but she did, and ended up checking more often then she would like.

She wandered back to the sad-looking couch, only a few steps from the kitchen, and pulled the handle that turned it into her bed, piling on all the pillows and blankets she could to keep warm.

She then slowly walked into the only bedroom of her new apartment, where Nick, fresh out of the shower, was watching a movie in his bed. His eyes met hers as she sat down.

"I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier... I know this move is a tough one," Patricia started, not really knowing how to react to her son's outburst earlier.

She thought the move would be easier for everyone, but so far that had proven to be wrong. So far she had no job, her son was labeled as a troublemaker, and she'd already made an enemy and a half. But she'd needed to get out of Liverpool, since nothing had been tying her down for a while. She really didn't know how she had even stayed that long with her parents basically breathing over her shoulder.

"How about we get a candy bar each from the vending machine down the hall, yeah? As a truce?"

Nick eyed her carefully, "A truce for what?"

"Well, you will stay out of trouble at school," Patricia started, " and I will... try to be more understanding?"

Nick stuck out his hand to shake his mom's. "You've got yourself a deal."

* * *

Eddie drummed his fingers on his steering wheel as he waited at the stoplight. Zack had fallen asleep in the back of the car, high school history lessons would definitely make a seven, almost eight, year old boy exhausted, and when you added in the traffic it took to get home, it made for a tired Eddie as well.

He pulled his car into the parking lot nearest to his apartment building, and rested Zack over his shoulder before walking inside.

When the elevator reached the third, and final, floor in their small apartment building, Eddie noticed some boxes outside of 3B, the empty (or so he thought) apartment across from his own, 3A. The door was slightly open, and he could make out the sound of rustling through more boxes inside, as he was putting his own key in the door, hoping not to wake his own son. Although, he couldn't deny he was a little curious about who their new neighbor was.

Eddie quickly turned when the door to 3B opened fully, revealing a still stressed "Ms." Williamson, whose eyes went wide upon seeing who she had just moved in across from, and an amused Nick with a gasping look on his face.

"Looks like we're neighbors," Eddie chuckled, laughing to himself at the irony. He didn't want her here, directly across from his own home, but by the looks of it, she didn't want to be there even _more_, and that was enough to make Eddie happy. He opened his apartment door and strode inside, but not before hearing the "Oh great..." that was mumbled under Patricia's breath.

* * *

**Merry Christmas Dancing Through Daisies, and anyone else reading this! Also shout out to ShadowSwan for putting this together, it was really fun! This story will have 4 parts, so I hope you enjoyed the first one and I'll be back tomorrow!**


	2. Chapter 2

_October_

* * *

"Can I go play at Zack's?" Nick asked emerging from his room after changing from his school clothes.

Patricia sighed, "I guess so." Nick shouted a "Thanks!" over his shoulder before running out the door.

This sort of thing had been happening all month, Nick going across the hall to play with Zack, and needless to say, Patricia wasn't a big fan. For starters, _Eddie_ lived there, and she and him didn't have the best first impressions. He was just so... _annoying_, and something about him grounded her gears to the point where she was about to explode. She never knew someone could be_ that_ arrogant.

Plus, Nick would always come back raving about just how much better the other apartment was. It was a two bedroom, she had been told, and Zack had a whole closet full of toys, while her own son had only a few.

Sure, _maybe _she was just trying to find ways to hate Eddie, but she decided they were all reasonable. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do to stop Her son from hanging out across the hall. Nick had been staying out of trouble, thanks to Zack, and it made her wonder how on earth he was Eddie's child.

* * *

"My mom _hates_ your dad," Nick laughed as he entered Zack's room. "Isn't it hilarious?"

"We must have different ideas of hilarious," Zack added, "but I guess it is kind of entertaining."

"Sure is," Nick agreed, "We ought to do some meddling for our own enjoyment! Let's make them hate each other even more!"

"_Or_ we could make them not hate each other, that way they wouldn't mind if we asked to do something..."

Nick thought for a moment. "That's a good point, I had never thought about meddling for _good_ before..."

"And I'd never thought of meddling at all before," Zack laughed, "I guess we make a good team."

* * *

"What's this?" Patricia asked the next day, holding up the packet of paper that Nick brought home from school.

"We have to sell wrapping paper this month," Nick explained, tossing his backpack in his room. "The prizes for selling the most are _really_ cool, but there's no way we could beat everyone in my grade."

"Nick! When did you get this? The deadline is _tomorrow_."

"Oh..." he trailed off, not realizing how quickly the time had gone by.

Patricia just rolled her eyes, but she could tell he still really wanted to win that prize. "Well, I guess we should get started shouldn't we?"

"Now?"

"We've got nothing else to do," Patricia smirked, seeing her son's face light up. He was winning that prize, and Patricia was willing to spend the whole day out there to make sure he did.

* * *

"Perfect," Eddie smiled as Zack pinned his homemade sign up on their table outside of the local grocery store. Zack had to sell wrapping paper for school and well, they had procrastinated more than they had realized.

They had sold a good bit of wrapping paper by the time the first hour was over. "You wanna head home soon?" Eddie asked his son.

"No way!" Zack responded, "We_ have_ to win!"

"Alright, alright," Eddie surrendered, before turning his head to see who's approaching feet were pounding against the pavement.

"Hey Nick!" Zack exclaimed as he approached the table.

"Hey," Nick said, a little out of breath.

"How did you get- oh..." Eddie muttered upon seeing_ Patricia_ approach the table.

They had pretty much avoided each other the past month, except for a few jabs here and there, when their kids couldn't hear of course. But now she was _here_, and Eddie wasn't quite sure what was going to happen next. He should have gone home.

"You want to help us sell?" Zack asked.

Nick looked up at his mom for permission, but she was not going to give it to him. "That's okay," She half-smiled, "We're going to set up over there."

"Whoa, wait a second you can't do that!" Eddie interjected.

"Watch me," Patricia scoffed, turning on her heel, her son following behind. There was no way Eddie was going to get in the way of helping Nick get the prize. "And we're gonna win, too!" She decided to call over her shoulder.

Eddie wasn't going to let Patricia get in the way of _Zack_ winning the prize though either. He had to beat her, it was a must.

"That's a whole lot of talk and not a lot of doing, Yacker!" He shouted back, content with the nickname he had created.

For the next two hours, the grocery store customers came and went, stopping at whichever table had the most creative means of attraction at the moment. That too went back and forth, due to both Eddie and Patricia's extreme competitiveness.

Nick and Zack on the other hand, we're just enjoying the entertainment. Their parents had never really gone _this_ far on anything, so for the moment, the two were loving the rivalry.

That was, until someone else showed up, Aubrey Marks to be exact. She was in the third grade as well, with curly blonde hair and parents who provided her with everything and more. She definitely wasn't the nicest girl either, and everyone knew it, so her showing up at the same spot as them was anything but good news.

With a few sneers at her fellow classmates, she, well her parents and her parents workers, quickly set up a place to sell, giving out free gifts to anyone who bought from them. Needless to say, they started to receive all the customers.

Eddie and Zack stormed over to Patricia and Nick, who were glaring at the new table. "It's revolting isn't it?" Patricia sneered, crossing her arms.

Eddie nodded in agreement, while Zack and Nick sighed simultaneously, there wasn't much they could do now.

"We can't let them win!" Eddie huffed, upon seeing the boys' disappointment.

"Obviously," Patricia remarked with a roll of her eyes, "but what else can we do?"

"I have an idea!" Nick exclaimed, standing straight up and disappearing for a moment, returning with a _mouse_ in his hands.

"Is that a mouse?!" Zack said excitedly.

Nick nodded with a smile forming on his face. "Aubrey's _allergic._"

Eddie cracked a smile, and raised his eyebrows at Patricia. She met his gaze, then looked back down at the creature. It was just going to scare them away, not do any physical damage, plus they_ did_ impose on their spot...

"Alright," she smiled, finally breaking, "Let 'em have it."

Nick put the mouse down and they all watched as Aubrey and her "team" ran in horror, packing up all their belongings faster then they had put them out.

Patricia had to admit, it was a sight to see, and her and the others found themselves in a fit of laughter. "That was awesome," she managed to get out between laughs, and Eddie agreed, smiling back.

They were interrupted by Zack's important question: "So how are we gonna win now?"

Nick answered, "Well today they said the person with the most in our grade so far was Max O. with 497 rolls of wrapping paper, and I overheard him say he wasn't going to sell anymore after that..."

"... So we just need to beat 497," Patricia concluded. "How much do we have now?"

"404," Nick said at the same time Zack shouted "450."

"You're on then, Yacker," Eddie smirked, starting to retreat back to his own table.

"Wait!" Zack stopped him. "If we sell the same amount together and win, they'll have to give us both the prize right?"

Eddie smiled, "Guess so, you in?"

"Welcome to the team," Patricia smirked.

* * *

"I'm afraid the company is only willing to give out _one_ prize per grade," Principal Hollifield explained, as Patricia and Eddie found themselves in her office once again, this time accompanied by Nick and Zack.

"You guys could share, yeah?" Patricia offered, although both boys were upset their plan didn't work. She wanted to fight back, but by the look on the principal's face, it seems she had done all she could.

Nick nodded, with a pout on his face, but Zack instead whispered something into his father's ear.

Eddie's face curled up into a smile. "Hey Nick, I'll take one of your finest rolls of wrapping paper, please."

"What?"

"_You_ can win the prize," Zack whispered, "Me and my dad both agree."

Nick's face turned into the biggest smile she'd ever seen, and she couldn't help but smile herself.

_Maybe they weren't so bad after all..._

* * *

**I'm back, and Dancing Through Daisies, since you were my only reviewer, I'm just going to respond on here! Your review was so sweet and I am so happy you enjoyed the first part! I hope you had a good holiday and enjoy this one too! Until tomorrow!**


	3. Chapter 3

_November_

* * *

It was a Friday night, and Patricia Williamson sat criss-cross in a pile of boxes, all full with stuff she had yet to unpack. She was determined to finish the unpacking today though, having hundreds of cardboard boxes in her "room" was in no way appealing.

"Hey mom can I sleepover at Josh's house with Zack?" Nick questioned when he came running in from playing across the hall.

"Sure," Patricia said, "Where does he live?"

"By the school, Eddie said he'd take us," Nick explained while grabbing a few things from his room, while Patricia got up and opened front door to see Eddie waiting in the hall.

"Nice boxes you've got there," Eddie smirked, looking inside at the mess.

Patricia rolled her eyes, "I'm getting it done tonight!"

Eddie laughed. "All of those? By yourself? That's quite the task you've got there."

Patricia crossed her arms. "Well do _you_ have a better idea?"

Eddie pondered the question for a moment. "Tell you what, after I take the boys, I'll offer you my assistance-"

"Wow, my hero," Patricia interrupted sarcastically.

"-and all you have to provide is the beer."

Patricia figured some company wouldn't hurt, even if it _was_ Eddie Miller. "Fine," she said cautiously, turning around and walking inside, kissing her son on the cheek as he walked out.

"See you in twenty."

* * *

"What kind of food does your mom like?" Eddie asked as they walked down the street to Josh's house.

Nick just shrugged, "Why?"

"I told her I would help unpack all your boxes so I figured I'd pick up some dinner too."

"Pizza then, and if you find my Super Mario game tell her she owes me 5 bucks!" Nick said, causing Zack to laugh, and Eddie to crack a smile.

After dropping the two off he called the pizza place and walked to pick it up, making him a little later to Patricia's apartment then he had originally planned.

"And I was just starting to think you chickened out," Patricia teased when he finally arrived at her door.

"Can't unpack on an empty stomach!" Eddie defended.

Patricia rolled her eyes. "You're just as bad of a procrastinator as I am."

"Haven't we learned this from the wrapping paper fiasco?" Eddie asked, picking up a bottle of beer that was sitting on the counter and handing one to her.

"Oh yeah... Thanks for, you know, _that_."

"Consider us even," Eddie smirked.

"Even?! I haven't-" Patricia tried to say, but Eddie stopped her.

"Cheers," he insisted, clanking his bottle against hers and opening the first box of the night.

* * *

"That's the most embarrassing thing I've ever heard!" Patricia said between laughs.

"Ah come on, it's not _that_ bad!"

"Having a pitcher of milk poured over your head is pretty bad! That's what you get though, for asking a girl out on a _bet_, weasel."

"I know, I know, it was pretty dumb," Eddie admitted, laughing along. He and Patricia had been sharing stories all night, as they did, in fact, unpack every single box that cluttered her apartment, except one.

"Now, _this_ is a good one," Eddie laughed, pulling a picture out of their last box. It was a picture of Patricia, soaking wet, and a much younger Nick holding a hose.

"Which one is that," Patricia asked, standing up and crossing to Eddie's side, and snatching it out of his hand. "He was _such_ a bad toddler..."

It was silent for a moment after that, and Eddie was debating whether or not he should ask the question he's been wondering for a while. "So... I just have to ask... what happened to your ex, or I guess... Nick's dad?"

Patricia put the picture down, meeting Eddie's eyes with hers. "You first."

He chuckled slightly. "Ah, the yacker doesn't want to yack," he started. "Well, there's not much to it. She didn't want to grow up, and I wasn't about to leave Zack in the dust. She was kind of crazy..."

Patricia nodded. "We were never together," she started, "he was a rising professional athlete, I don't even know how it happened honestly, he was going back to Australia the next day anyway. I never even told him."

Eddie nodded. "Ah, exes, what can you do with them," he shrugged, and went back to the task at hand. Silence surrounded them again as they finished unpacking the last box.

"I'm surprised we actually got this done," Patricia said, finally breaking the silence.

"I told you I would be of assistance."

"Yeah, I was surprised about that too," Patricia mocked, and Eddie laughed, causing Patricia to crack a smile. She had a nice smile too, and hair and eyes for that matter, which Eddie was surprised he was just now noticing.

"You up for one more round?" She asked, making her way to the fridge.

"Yeah sure," Eddie nodded, making his way to her couch, waiting for her to join him.

"Alright, I have a confession," she admitted as she joined him again, causing Eddie to raise an eyebrow. "I, too, had milk _and_ cereal dumped over my head."

"No way!" Eddie laughed, "Ask someone out on a bet too?"

"_No_, weasel, I was just really mean to this one girl in high school."

"You? Mean? Never," Eddie teased, earning him a shove.

"We became friends after, okay!" She defended, "Just _consider us even."_

Eddie smirked at her mocking tone. "Even? No way, you had _cereal_ poured on you too!"

"That is not worse!" She defended, moving her head closer for emphasis.

"Is too!" He mocked, doing the same.

"Is not!"

"Is too!" Eddie continued, with a smile growing wider and wider on his face. He didn't know if it was her, or the buzz, but he felt like a complete kid again, and he was loving it.

Their eyes flickered from the other's eyes to lips for a second, realizing just how _close_ they were. Both found themselves leaning in, nearly an inch away from each other, until there was a knock at the door.

Patricia quickly jumped up, opening the door to see a miserable looking Nick with who she assumed was Josh's mom standing behind.

She explained that he had eaten to much junk food, so now he was feeling sick, and nobody had answered when he called.

Patricia apologized and thanked her for bringing Nick home, before bringing him inside and letting her leave. She turned towards Eddie, who was getting up to leave, and awkwardly thanked him for his help, again.

"No problem," he replied, and with a quick wave and a 'feel better' to Nick, he was out the door.

* * *

**I'm back, sorry I had to skip yesterday! I couldn't get to a computer! Anyway, i struggled writing the end of this chapter, but I hope it turned out okay! Thanks for the great reviews though! I'll be back tomorrow**!


	4. Chapter 4

_**I haven't updated this since last year! **_

**Sorry I had too, but seriously, it's been almost a month, and I don't even have a good excuse for the delay. I was out of town and then school started back up again and honestly this completely slipped my mind until now! I really hope you all can forgive me!**

**Also, I hope you can forgive me for putting an Author's note at the beginning, but ((spoiler alert)) this has a happy ending, and who wants an apology after a happy ending?**

**Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this, sorry for the delay and thank you for reading!**

* * *

_December_

* * *

"We're both going to be late, _lets go_," Patricia yelled from the doorway for what felt like the hundredth time. If Nick took any longer getting ready, there would be no way for her to take him to school and get to work on time.

"You're going to wake up the neighbors," Eddie teased, coming out his own door followed by his son.

"You're already awake," Patricia smirked, checking her watch again.

"Hey, you go, I'll take them both to school," Eddie offered, noticing her frantic behavior.

Patricia smiled, then, to his surprise, thanked him a million times before grabbing her purse and heading to the elevator.

They both had pretty much avoided each other since the almost-kiss last month. It wasn't that either of them forgot, they just weren't sure how the other felt about it, and neither were necessarily ready to confront the other about it either.

So, since then, it'd been a few brief exchanges in the hall, nothing more, nothing less. He was thankful for the nothing less part, but as for the nothing more part... not so much.

* * *

"Nice!" Nick exclaimed, high-fiving Zack, whose snowball just hit its target spot on.

"They had it coming," he replied, ducking back behind their shelter, just as the bell signaling the end of recess rang.

"Want to play in the snow again tonight?" Nick asked as they started to walk back inside. "We can practice our snowball fight strategies!"

"Yeah!" Zack exclaimed. "We can go to that park nearby! It has _tons_ of open space to practice."

Nick nodded, "My mom can probably take us!"

"Or my dad," Zack added.

"Or even better, _both_..." Nick smirked, a grin appearing on Zack's face as well as they took their seats, eager for the school day to be over with.

* * *

"Mom, Eddie's gonna take us to the park to have a snowball fight," Nick explained, peeking his head in the door of their apartment.

"Okay," Patricia said dismissively, staring at the pile of papers on the table.

Nick face twisted with confusion as he opened the door and actually stepped in to the room. Usually if he told his mom he was going to Zack's she would come out and say a word or two to Eddie, who stands in the hallway, like his is now. This way, it would have been easier to get her to come along with them.

But since she didn't seem to be acting like herself, which he assumed was due to whatever was making her and Eddie speak less, he figured he needed a new approach.

"Aren't you going to... check with Eddie?" He questioned, his on-the-spot thinking not at its best.

"No, I'm sure it's fine."

"But... He said he wanted to talk to you."

"Oh... about what?" Patricia asked, suddenly interested in her son's odd behavior.

But he just shrugged and went back into the hall, leaving the door open for Patricia to follow, which she did.

"Nick said you wanted to-" Patricia started to say, but she was interrupted by her own son.

"Why don't you come with us?!" Nick said quickly, not wanting the two adults to spot his lie.

Zack caught on quickly. "Yeah! I mean, I'm sure you could use a break..."

Eddie's eyebrows wrinkled as he shot a side glance at Patricia, who was looking the same way at the two boys in front of them. She knew something was going on, but she didn't have the time to figure it out.

She heard a piercing voice travel down the hall, one she recognized from recent voicemails on her phone she never returned. She could hear the footsteps nearing from the stairs as she quickly agreed to going with Eddie and the boys, shoving them all in the elevator as fast as she could.

* * *

"Care to explain why you and the boys are acting so weird?" Eddie asked as they walked side by side, hands in their pockets, with Nick and Zack marching ahead of them.

"I could ask you the same thing," she replied, shortly.

"Alright... I guess we're both clueless then," he said, more to himself than to her, as they continued walked on the snow sprinkled sidewalk. "How did they end up sneakier than us?"

Patricia cracked a smile. "I don't think they could _ever_ end up sneaker than I was."

Eddie chuckled, "I'm not so sure teenage Yacker could beat her son."

"Oh trust me, she would," Patricia laughed, "and what about you huh? If I remember your stories correctly, you said weren't exactly Prince Charming!"

"Alright, fair enough," Eddie surrendered with a smile, content that they were talking again.

But he noticed her closing back up, as they finally arrived at the park, sitting on the nearest bench to where the boys were making snowballs. "Something bothering you?"

Patricia held her breath, before finally sighing. Eddie was going to find out eventually, as well as Nick and Zack, so she figured she might as well tell him about all the papers and quick exits now. From what she'd learned about him before, he was, in fact, a pretty good listener...

"Well... it has nothing to do with why the boys are acting weird, but... er..." She sighed, "Eddie, we're getting evicted."

Eddie looked shocked, and he was actually saddened to hear this, although he couldn't believe only 4 months ago, he would have been ecstatic. He was just realizing how much he cared for Nick and Patricia, and he knew Zack would be devastated too.

"Does Nick know?"

Patricia shook her head. "I haven't been able to tell him yet, and, well, I don't even know how. I don't even want to go near that place with him, I mean, what if he saw me getting _yelled_ at by the landlord? I haven't paid the bills in weeks, that's totally mortifying..."

Eddie nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry, Patricia... I can take Nick for the night if u want and-" Eddie stopped himself, and Patricia watched as a smile grew on his face. "Better yet, we won't go back tonight."

Patricia raised her eyebrows. "What on Earth are you talking about?"

"Don't worry I have it all under control, just stay here with the boys, I'll be back in a hour." And just like that, he was off.

* * *

Patricia found her self walking along the snowy sidewalks once again, Nick and Zack in their usual position a few steps in front of her. She had received a text from Eddie about ten minutes ago with an address, and they were on their way now, a little confused, but the boys were always ready for adventure.

Once the three of them rounded the corner, Eddie could be seen, sitting on the steps of a town home, twirling a key in his hands. The boys ran even further ahead of her, and after saying a few words to Eddie, she watched them run inside.

"Care to explain what we are doing here?" Patricia asked once she finally reached him.

"Well, Yacker, you don't want to go back to the apartments for now, and I wanted to feel the rush of rebellion again, so tonight, this is our house."

"O_ur_ house? Are you insane? You can't just break into someone's house and-"

"_Relax_," Eddie insisted, "it's for sale, no ones living in here. Besides, it does solve the problem at hand right?"

"I guess you're right..." Patricia sighed, reluctantly letting a smile creep up on her face. "Thanks _Weasel_."

"No problem, Yackball," Eddie smiled back. "And I'm sure everything with you and Nick will turn out just fine."

Patricia nodded, and they both turned to walk inside until she stopped again. "Eddie?"

"Hmm?"

"One more thing."

Before she could change her mind, she pulled his head towards hers and let their lips finally collide. Her fingers reached his hair just as his reached her waist. She felt him smile too, as he pulled her closer, wanting to feel all he had been missing out on.

Well, until a snowball hit them both in the face.

"Nice aim!"

* * *

After a rather long snowball fight, which Nick and Zack won, Eddie found himself with his back against the wall of the empty home. Empty hot chocolate mugs cluttered the space around him and those sleeping nearby. Nick and Zack were snoozing in the sleeping bags he'd brought from home, while Patricia's head lay on his shoulder, the sound of the crackling fire keeping everyone in their dreams.

He didn't know it then, but the eviction turned out to be a pretty good invitation for asking his girlfriend and her son to move in with them a few months later.

He didn't know it then, but eventually, two adults sharing a full bed and two kids sharing a twin bed could get a bit crowded after a while.

He didn't know it then, but when the ones who bought the townhouse decided they needed to get a bigger place a year later, himself, Patricia, Nick, and Zack took their place.

He didn't know it then, but they turned out to be one _hell_ of a family.


End file.
